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Thesaurus Day is held on 18th January because that is the birthdate of Peter Roget the creator of Roget's Thesaurus. He was born in 1779, was a consummate list-maker by 8 years old and went on to be a physician after leaving school and studying medicine at University of Edinburgh. He retired in 1840 and dedicated himself to compiling his dictionary of synonyms that he had begun in 1805. This dictionary was first published in 1852. It was called 'Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition’. It was republished and republished and became very well known and thought of and despite Roget's other achievements it is for this that he is most remembered.
Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet published a spectacular picture book biography of his life, titled The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus in 2014. It is the perfect way to learn about Roget and thesauruses. It also impresses upon readers the power of words and the joy of looking closely at them.
If you can't find this book and you want to look at synonyms through a fun read look for:
• Thesaurus Rex by Laya Steinberg and Debbie Harter
January is Braille Literacy Awareness Month. It is designated as such in honour of Louis Braille who originally developed the Braille code that enables blind people to read. Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809.
Literacy plays such a big role in both my private and working life that I would be devastated to lose the ability to read or write. To be born blind and not be able to read is something I only get to contemplate through reading. It has fascinated me though as a topic for picture books and I have shared many wonderful books with the young children I teach. My Year 2 students are fascinated by the story of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller and these two books, Helen's Big World by Doreen Rappaport and Annie and Helen by Deborah Hopkinson are borrowed often. Because of this I purchased Six Dots, the picture book about Braille by Jen Bryant and it too has been popular. Up until this beautiful book was published anything my students gleaned about Braille came from some crusty old readers or from the internet. We do however have a couple of books which feature Braille.
Look for:
• The Black Book of Colours by Menena Cottin
This book has remarkable illustrations done with raised lines. Braille letters accompany the illustrations and a full Braille alphabet offers sighted readers help reading along with their fingers.
• Private and Confidential by Marion Ripley
Here Laura learns Braille so that she can send her blind penpal a letter.
October 16, the birthday of Noah Webster, is World Dictionary Day. Show your appreciation for this most useful of reference books by celebrating Dictionary Day with children --learn some new words, learn how dictionaries came to be, spruce up your dictionary skills, or even create your own dictionary! Look here for lots of ideas on how to have fun with words.
In Australia we are more likely to use an Oxford, a Collins or a Macquarie dictionary than a Webster's, but nevertheless Webster is worth celebrating. There is Noah Webster and His Words a picture book biography that will be in many libraries and it is an ideal way to introduce young children to Noah Webster. If this creates plenty of discussion you might like to also introduce students to the life of Peter Mark Roget, the thesaurus guru whose life is featured in this new book, The Right Word by Jen Bryant and with wonderful illustrations by Melissa Sweet.
